ROYC75
09-19-2008, 04:23 PM
OK, we knew this was coming....... Seriously, it's the only way too .
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080919/pl_afp/usbankingfinancecongress;_ylt=AsQlTbBR5AOF6YKH1Q4K1g.yFz4D
Congress ready for bailout, but wants help for middle class !
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Democratic leaders in Congress Friday pledged quick action on a massive finance sector bailout, but set the stage for November's elections by also demanding help for struggling American workers.
Lawmakers appeared stunned by the magnitude of the crisis revealed to them by the Bush administration. Senate Banking Committee chairman Chris Dodd said that untended, the US economy would be in "complete meltdown" within days.
But they admitted there was little option but to go along with the biggest government bid to buy up bad debts and rescue blitzed financial firms in decades, which officials said would cost "hundreds of billions" of dollars.
Democratic House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi said she told President George W. Bush she was committed to "quick, bipartisan action."
But she said care must be taken to insulate normal Americans -- "Main Street" -- from the meltdown in the Wall Street financial sector, and to reduce mortgage foreclosures.
Senate Majority leader Harry Reid also seemed to be eyeing November's congressional elections, in which Democrats hope to swell majorities racked up in the 2006 elections when they captured both the House and Senate.
"To avoid a deepening crisis and turn this economy around, the proposal must not only address the broader, underlying structural issues in the financial markets, but also protect taxpayers and strengthen the middle class."
Reid also struck the "Main Street" theme, as did Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama in Florida, reflecting the party's coordinated response to the crisis which spiraled out of control last weekend.
And while blaming "failed" Bush administration policies for the turmoil, he pledged to work with the White House, Treasury and Federal Reserve to put it right.
Senator Dodd was asked about the timing of Congressional action on the proposed intervention and whether Congress could act quickly enough to get the package on the table by the end of next week.
"We will see, our hope is that we can do that," Dodd told reporters.
"But, this problem is serious, the clock is not going to determine, if it takes us two weeks we will do it, if it takes us three weeks we will do it."
Dodd said that he and other lawmakers were anxious to learn the specifics of the huge government bailout plan for the financial sector.
"Our intention is, over the weekend, for us to work together. We understand the gravity of the moment. This is an extremely serious time for our country and for the world."
Dodd described a meeting between Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and top congressional leaders on Thursday night as "about as sobering a meeting as any of us have ever attended in our careers here."
Dodd's fellow Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer said that the administration painted a dire picture to lawmakers of the consequences of a failure to act to shore up the markets amid a global financial crisis.
"The question is what's the alternative. The picture they painted if nothing was done was really troubling, deeply, deeply troubling."
Dodd warned however that lawmakers would not be able to simply use the rescue package to get long sought after projects passed by Congress.
"This will not be a Christmas tree," he said.
"This is not going to be a piece of legislation that involves every idea that everyone's had that they want to attach to this.
"We want to deal with causes and effects here, not just the effects but the causes as well if we're going to bring to closure this serious -- the most serious economic challenge in our lifetime."
Earlier, Dodd warned on ABC television that the situation facing the US economy was dire.
"I've been here 28 years, to listen to the language of last evening, we maybe were days away from a complete meltdown of our financial system," Dodd said.
"One of the rare moments, certainly rare in my experience here, that Democrats and Republicans decided we needed to work together, quickly."
President George W. Bush earlier said his administration was working to mitigate the massive crisis which sent global markets into a tailspin, despite a massive government bailout of insurance giant American International Group and a takeover of mortgage finance firms Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The credit crunch was caused by a meltdown in US home prices after a frenzied boom that induced a wave of investments before a collapse.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080919/pl_afp/usbankingfinancecongress;_ylt=AsQlTbBR5AOF6YKH1Q4K1g.yFz4D
Congress ready for bailout, but wants help for middle class !
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Democratic leaders in Congress Friday pledged quick action on a massive finance sector bailout, but set the stage for November's elections by also demanding help for struggling American workers.
Lawmakers appeared stunned by the magnitude of the crisis revealed to them by the Bush administration. Senate Banking Committee chairman Chris Dodd said that untended, the US economy would be in "complete meltdown" within days.
But they admitted there was little option but to go along with the biggest government bid to buy up bad debts and rescue blitzed financial firms in decades, which officials said would cost "hundreds of billions" of dollars.
Democratic House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi said she told President George W. Bush she was committed to "quick, bipartisan action."
But she said care must be taken to insulate normal Americans -- "Main Street" -- from the meltdown in the Wall Street financial sector, and to reduce mortgage foreclosures.
Senate Majority leader Harry Reid also seemed to be eyeing November's congressional elections, in which Democrats hope to swell majorities racked up in the 2006 elections when they captured both the House and Senate.
"To avoid a deepening crisis and turn this economy around, the proposal must not only address the broader, underlying structural issues in the financial markets, but also protect taxpayers and strengthen the middle class."
Reid also struck the "Main Street" theme, as did Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama in Florida, reflecting the party's coordinated response to the crisis which spiraled out of control last weekend.
And while blaming "failed" Bush administration policies for the turmoil, he pledged to work with the White House, Treasury and Federal Reserve to put it right.
Senator Dodd was asked about the timing of Congressional action on the proposed intervention and whether Congress could act quickly enough to get the package on the table by the end of next week.
"We will see, our hope is that we can do that," Dodd told reporters.
"But, this problem is serious, the clock is not going to determine, if it takes us two weeks we will do it, if it takes us three weeks we will do it."
Dodd said that he and other lawmakers were anxious to learn the specifics of the huge government bailout plan for the financial sector.
"Our intention is, over the weekend, for us to work together. We understand the gravity of the moment. This is an extremely serious time for our country and for the world."
Dodd described a meeting between Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and top congressional leaders on Thursday night as "about as sobering a meeting as any of us have ever attended in our careers here."
Dodd's fellow Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer said that the administration painted a dire picture to lawmakers of the consequences of a failure to act to shore up the markets amid a global financial crisis.
"The question is what's the alternative. The picture they painted if nothing was done was really troubling, deeply, deeply troubling."
Dodd warned however that lawmakers would not be able to simply use the rescue package to get long sought after projects passed by Congress.
"This will not be a Christmas tree," he said.
"This is not going to be a piece of legislation that involves every idea that everyone's had that they want to attach to this.
"We want to deal with causes and effects here, not just the effects but the causes as well if we're going to bring to closure this serious -- the most serious economic challenge in our lifetime."
Earlier, Dodd warned on ABC television that the situation facing the US economy was dire.
"I've been here 28 years, to listen to the language of last evening, we maybe were days away from a complete meltdown of our financial system," Dodd said.
"One of the rare moments, certainly rare in my experience here, that Democrats and Republicans decided we needed to work together, quickly."
President George W. Bush earlier said his administration was working to mitigate the massive crisis which sent global markets into a tailspin, despite a massive government bailout of insurance giant American International Group and a takeover of mortgage finance firms Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The credit crunch was caused by a meltdown in US home prices after a frenzied boom that induced a wave of investments before a collapse.